Twisted
by Asuki Mona Zetsumei
Summary: *Redone!* What happens when Ichigo finds out about the two souls that reside inside of him and learns that someone is after them? GrimmIchi and some ShiroIchi
1. Deserving

Okay! Sorry it's taken SOO long but I'm finally getting around to work on this fic again. I am changing it up and fixing it a bit but over all, it's staying the same. *bows* I hope you can forgive me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anyone in this fic.

* * *

Brown eyes shot open due to the loud pounding on his door.

"Ichi it's me, open up!" he heard Grimmjow's voice call through the door. Chocolate eyes slowly turned black and gold as he got up and went to answer. As he pulled the door open, he looked back at the blue haired man blankly as if no one was even in there. "Ichigo?"

"King ain't here right now, piss off." he said coldly before slamming the door shut and locking it. The being sat at the table as the pounding on the door continued, louder now.

"Shirosaki you open this god damn door right now!"

"Or what Grimm? You'll kill me?" he asked mockingly and the man on the other side of the door went silent. Shiro ran a hand through the orange hair that didn't belong to him. The tan, muscular body in nothing but a pair of tight black boxer briefs... he wanted it... he wanted it all too badly but Ichigo wasn't even aware that he existed even though he was able to take over his body from time to time. "I didn't think so Kitty. We both know that you're afraid of me... terrified even." the door swung open and Grimmjow rushed in. This came as no surprise to the other man, it wasn't the first time that he had broken in to get to him. The blunet's hand wrapped around the others neck, throwing him to the ground, and pinning him to the floor with his own body.

"I'm not afraid of you." he growled over the other. It wasn't a shock that Shirosaki didn't fight back, he never did. At first Grimmjow never touched him because he was afraid of hurting his berry but one day, Shiro had pushed him too far and he punched him but he never fought back, he never did. So eventually the blunet just assumed that he never would.

"Oh... so Grimmy wants to get physical? My lucky day." Shiro laughed, licking the blunet's cheek but he quickly moved his head before he could reach his lips. Shirosaki chuckled, a very twisted sound, everything about him was twisted. Grimmjow tightened his grip around his neck.

"What the fuck... Grimm!" Ichigo's voice yelled, out of breath. Said blunet looked down into brown eyes and quickly got off of him and helped him up as he coughed. "What the fuck Grimmjow? What the fuck was that about?" he yelled, rubbing his throat.

"Sorry I just... I uh..."

"Forget it-I don't even wanna know!" he held up his hand. If his boyfriend was trying to kill him, he'd rather find out with a knife in his back instead of knowing from the start.

"I'm not trying to kill you Ichigo, I promise."

"You know I trust you but I said I don't wanna know." he said, walking passed him to go back into his room. He heard evil laughter and looked back at his boyfriend in question.

"What?"

"Uh... nothing. I just heard someone laughing so I thought it was you." Grimmjow's eyes widened slightly before turning to look out the window.

"Yeah I thought I heard it too... thought it was you." he lied and Ichigo shook his head. "Must've been someone outside. Just get ready so we can go, Renji and Rukia are already there."

"Okay, I'll only be a minute." Ichigo answered, turning back into his room. Grimmjow sighed, sitting on the couch and running his hands over his face. Ichigo couldn't find out that he held two other souls within him other than just his own. Zangetsu and Shirosaki... he had only ever met the latter and most of the time always left majorly pissed off and with a headache. They were going to meet up with their other friends though little did Ichigo know that they were part of an Organization known as Espada. To be more precise, there were ten Espada and the rest were known as Arrancar. They were pulled together to unsure that Zangetsu would one day be taken out of Ichigo to save the world from a great disaster that's supposed to happen. And when they were notified that they were supposed to get close to him... Grimmjow never expected that he'd fall in love with him.

Grimmjow knew that Ichigo's life was hard as it was... the kid could see the spirits of the dead and he hated it. All he wanted was a normal life... so the blunet would try as hard as he could to make that happen. It was bad enough that the other two souls were able to take over his body but now he was starting to hear them? The day was drawing nearer.

"Let's go." Ichigo said suddenly, opening the door. Grimmjow got up and followed him out.

* * *

Ichigo sighed, spacing off as he looked at nothing. They were sitting in the food court of the mall and he felt left out of the conversation because he wasn't all that into cars and that's what everyone was talking about so he just kept quiet so that he didn't make himself look like an idiot by trying to understand what they were talking about.

"What useless chatter..." everyone looked Ichigo who was looking in the opposite direction.

"What?" Grimmjow asked and vibrant blue eyes, brighter than his own turned on him blankly before he he stood and walked off.

"Grimmjow what's going on?" Renji asked.

"I think that's Zangetsu... that didn't sound like Ichigo and his eyes were blue."

"Well are you sure it wasn't Shirosaki?" the red head persisted.

"If it was, I would have told you it was him. Shirosaki's eyes are black and gold not blue and his voice is like Ichigo's only... demonic." Grimmjow explained.

"Well what are you wasting time here for, go follow him." Rukia rushed, pointing after him and the blunet jumped up to tail the man. He pulled out his phone and called Renji who answered right away, saying he was on speaker.

"I know I should have told you guys this earlier but I had a run in with Shirosaki earlier and nearly strangled him and then he gave control back to Ichigo and he yelled at me."

"You idiot! You're not supposed to touch him!" Rukia yelled.

"Hey you would've done the same fucking thing! The weird thing is that he never fights back, he just switches with-"

"Never? You've done this more then once?" Rukia yelled, interrupting him.

"Yes now will you shut the Hell up and let me finish?" it was quiet so he continued. "He never fights back, he never attacks or anything, he just taunts me until I try something and he switches with Ichi again." no one spoke for awhile.

"That's strange..." Toshiro's voice suddenly pitched in.

"Toshiro? When did you get there?" Grimmjow asked, making sure that he didn't lose sight of who he took to be Zangetsu.

"Just now. What's going on?"

"I think Ichigo is Zangetsu right now and I'm following him. His exact words before walking off were, 'What useless chatter.'" he turned a corner, keeping his eye fixed on the orange haired person.

"And you're sure it was Zangetsu?" Toshiro proceeded. Why in the Hell was it so hard for everyone to believe this?

"Yes I'm sure. Shirosaki's eyes are black and gold and his voice his like Ichi's only extremely fucked up. This guy's eyes are blue and his voice is slightly deeper. But seriously, why the Hell is it so hard for you guys to believe me? I'm the one who knows both Ichi and Shiro better than anyone." the other line went silent. "Hello?"

"Uh... did you just call him 'Shiro?'" Renji asked and Grimmjow looked confused and thought about his words.

"Oh god, I did..." he shook his head. "That's not important right now, we have no clue what he's... hold on... he just turned into the bathroom." Grimmjow said, going after him.

"Well maybe that's it then, maybe he just needed to go to the bathroom." Renji pitched in, acting as if he had just solved the case but Grimmjow knew better. People suddenly started hurrying out, looking back like there was a mad man in there. And maybe there was.

"Something's happening-I'll call ya later." Grimmjow said quickly before hanging up and shoving his phone in his pocket. Wasn't Zangetsu supposed to be the good guy? What the Hell did he do? The blunet ran in just to be shoved into and pinned to a wall, his face hitting the cold title it was made with.

"Hiya Kitty..." Shirosaki's voice mocked.

"What the fuck happened to Zangetsu?" the blunet growled angrily, not fighting back because he was afraid he'd hurt Ichigo again.

"He doesn't like ta stay long, ya know? You've been following me all day babe and I wanna have some fun." he said, chuckling darkly. Grimmjow struggled against him but was held tighter until his body ached under the pressure and he nearly lost his breath. "I've been playing _real_ nice fer ya too long and ya still hate me."

"What do you-" the blunet stopped when his airway was blocked off.

"I didn't say you could speak." the demon growled. "I just want to do something, okay? I wanna go for a walk, see a movie, have dinner. I wanna do _something_." Grimmjow looked at him confused. "Do you know what it's like to be locked away from the world? I know you take me for some sort of a demon but I... I want a life." the others eyes widened, different emotions running through them. Why was one of them sympathy?

"Why?" the trapped man managed. It was quiet for awhile.

"I don't wanna be alone anymore..." he replied sadly. Grimmjow turned to see him when his grip loosened. He was thinking about rejecting him but he knew what that was like and was feeling sorry for him and he... he looked so sad. Maybe it was just because it was his boyfriend's sad face but he decided to go along with it. And who knows, maybe he'll learn something from him. They always figured it'd be Zangetsu they talked to but Shirosaki would have to do.

"Alright. What do you wanna do first?" Shirosaki looked up at him with surprised eyes as if he expected to be rejected.

"I... I don't know..." he trailed off in thought, trusting the other enough to let him go.

"Wanna start with a walk? We can stop and eat or see a movie or whatever if you feel like it." Shirosaki looked down as if hiding something.

"Yeah... that sounds good." the panther looked at him oddly. There was something different about his voice just now. He sounded... happy.

* * *

Hi, Suki here, just wanted to say thanks for your patience with me. I'm not planning on making this very long maybe ten - twelve chapters at most and the chapters are all gonna be really short but I'll be posting pretty quickly and sorry if things move too fast for you, just try to keep up.


	2. Remembrance

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anyone in this fic.

* * *

As Grimmjow and the possessed berry roamed the streets aimlessly in silence, the blunet felt an overwhelming feeling of discomfort. For so long, this demon was... well... a demon and now suddenly he seems so innocent and wants to live? Thinking back, Grimmjow couldn't help but to recall the decrease in his violent acts in the last few months and especially the last few days. Maybe he just hated the other too much to stop and think about how he felt.

_'Do you know what it's like to be locked away from the world?'_

He did. He knew it pretty well. He sneaked a peek at the man walking next to him to find that his golden eyes were cast down as if in deep thought.

'I wonder what his story is...' just then, Shirosaki caught him looking and chuckled, shaking his head as he did so. "What?"

"You." Grimmjow glared at him, taking it as an insult. "You're trying to get into my head yet you have no idea what's running through your own." Grimmjow didn't react to this. He knew he was making what he was thinking obvious but only because it was hard to hide it. This was just too confusing.

"Yeah so what?"

"Didn't say anything about it. It's just a bit funny to me that you would try to figure out something you'll never learn without asking." at this, the blunet's eyes widened.

"You would tell me?" he asked in disbelief.

"Sure." shrugs, thinking nothing of it. "What do ya wanna know?"

"What's your story? How did you come to be what you are now? What do you know about what's going on? How much do you know about-"

"Calm down. One question at a time." Shirosaki commanded with a chuckle. Geez, he's never seen this guy so worked up about anything before but in turn, Grimmjow's never seen him in a good mood. He took a deep breath, looking up at the darkening sky before Grimmjow's cell went off again for the hundredth time. The last time they called was a little over an hour ago but it still pissed the being off as if they had been calling nonstop for the last two and a half hours. "Tell 'em we're on a walk and ta stop fucking calling." he growled angrily. As it was getting on the blunet's nerves as well, he answered and told them he would call them back when he got back from his walk with Ichigo, gaining a sideways glance from the other but they both knew it would only complicate things if he had told them who he was really with. 'Smart man.'

"Alright that should take care of them." the older male said as he hung up, not realizing that Shirosaki had turned into the gates of a park.

"Well..." he sighed deeply, looking back up at the sky as he made his way over to the swings. "My mother used to take me to a park similar to this when I-"

"You have a mother?" Grimmjow asked in shock as he sat in the swing next to the other. The demon growled at him for interrupting but looked down at the ground, now feeling overwhelmingly depressed. He pushed off of the ground so that he lightly rocked in the swing, memories flooding his mind.

"Had..." he said sadly. Realizing it was a touchy subject and he had just hurt the other, Grimmjow looked away, feeling kinda asswhole-ish. Shirosaki never spoke again the entire night. Grimmjow knew he shouldn't have said anything... how was he gonna make it up to him?

* * *

"Wait, where are you going?" Grimmjow called to the demon as he stormed off. They had gotten into a fight only minutes ago. Grimmjow tried to apologize for the other night but ended up yelling at him instead.

* * *

_"I'm uh..." _

_"You don't have to apologize, you're an asswhole and we all know it." Shirosaki said, shrugging it off. _

_"Who said I was gonna apologize? I just wanted to tell you how much of a douche bag you were!" Grimmjow yelled, not liking what the other had said. _

_"**I** was the douche bag? If I remember correctly, I was offering you information about myself that no one knows and you said something you shouldn't have!" he yelled back. _

_"How was I supposed to know that he don't like talking about your dear dead mommy?" Shirosaki flinched and something tugged at the back of his mind, warning him to stop but of course he wasn't about to leave this fight. "Why don't you like talking about her? Are you ashamed of her? Was she a whore?"  
_

_"You didn't know her so keep yer god damn mouth shut!"_

_"You're right I didn't know her, that must be why **I don't give a fuck**!"_

_"If you wanna live beyond today, you better shut the **fuck** up **right** now!" the being growled through his teeth, his hands clenching into fists, and his body beginning to shake violently. _

_"You're not the only one who-" _

_"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Shirosaki screamed at the top of his lungs, panting in anger, trying not to use his powers. "If Ichigo knew you doing this, you'd never hear the end of it..." he growled when his breathing somewhat calmed. Grimmjow folded his arms, the two still exchanging glares. _

_"Yeah well guess what? Ichigo doesn't even know you exist." Shirosaki stopped breathing, his eyes widened, and he swore that his heart had stopped. He cast his eyes down when he felt them water. He stormed off, passed the blunet, and outside. Instantly, Grimmjow regretted everything he had just said.  
_

* * *

"Shiro, wait." he called, grabbing his arm to turn him around. "Where are you going?"

"Swimming." he snapped, snatching his arm away from the blunet, turning away from him to hold his head.

"I'm sorry alright? I shouldn't have said anything I did, I realize that now. And just in case you didn't hear me, I'm sorry!" being ignored, Shirosaki continued walking with his hands on his head. Why did Grimmjow feel sorry for him? Why did he feel bad at all? When they finally came to the beach, the being removed his hands from his head to take his shirt off. "What are you doing?"

"I already told you..." he sighed deeply as he continued to undress until he was in nothing but his black boxer briefs. He sighed again, sitting down in the sand, once again holding his head. Grimmjow's eyes widened at what he was seeing. Ichigo's tan skin looked extremely pale and his hair seemed lighter in color.

'It's just the moonlight.' he told himself as he sat next to the other man. He waited a few minutes before speaking, "I'm sorry." the male sitting next to him let out a long sigh as he folded his arms over his knees.

"It's okay... it doesn't matter anymore..." he trailed off sadly, resting his head on his knees to gaze over the ocean water that reflected the moonlight beautifully. He sighed again. "You know we used to go swimming all the time... whenever I was sad she would take me to a place up in the mountains where the river that connected to a pond near our house started." Grimmjow looked at him, remaining quiet. "We would spend all day hiking up the mountain just to ride the river back down and just walk home from there." he smiled at the good memory. "We could only go during the summer though because it was always way too cold to go during any other season." he chuckled lightly. "It seems we always had a main activity for each season. And with her... nothing ever got old."

"What would you be doing right now?" Grimmjow dared to ask when the other didn't continue. Shirosaki looked at him for a moment before looking up at the moon and smiled.

"Well... it's almost fall so most likely..."

* * *

_"Come on Mommy, let's go." Shirosaki sang happily as the seven year old hurried down the trail, pulling on his mother's dress as an attempt to make her walk faster._

_"Calm down darling, we'll be there soon." his mother giggled at the eager boy._

_"But I can't calm down Mama, I wanna see the birds." she knelt next to her son to button his coat up a little farther to protect him from the chilly Fall wind before kissing his head. "We'll be there soon baby, okay?"_

_"Okay Mama..." the boy pouted. He didn't see that she was secretly taking off her shoes._

_"Shiro?"_

_"Yes?" she gently poked his forehead before standing up and running slowly so that he wouldn't fall behind._

_"I'll race you." she called back. The boy laughed and chased after her. As they got deeper into the woods, his mom eventually stopped and held his hand as he stared in awe up at the red and orange leaves as they fell from the large trees over head._

_"Wow..." no matter how many times he saw this scene, it always seemed like a new experience. When he saw a big pile of leaves, he let go of his mom's hand to run over and jump into it. "Come on Mom!" she laughed and jumped in with him, holding her dress down as she did so. They started throwing leave at each other, effectively scattering the neat pile of color. _

_"What are you doing?" a man's voice asked harshly. The two looked up to see the most respected man in the village. The man that gave his seed to Shiro's mother to create him. The man he hated the man with a burning passion. His father.  
_

_"Uh... we were just... having fun." his mother answered, helping him away from the leaves to brush him off before herself. _

_"Such foolish acts will not be tolerated." he directed his speech to the young boy. "You will learn better or I will have you removed from this woman's care. Am I clear?" _

_"Yeah..." Shiro mumbled. _

_"Am I clear." he demanded in a "I'm boss, do as I say" voice. Shiro stood straight and held his head up. _

_"Yes sir." _

_"Good." he said before turning around and when he did, Shiro stuck his tongue out at him but his mother squeezed his shoulder lightly and shook her head, a fearful look in her eyes. "Zangetsu." the man called and a dark haired boy walked up to them. "Take this..." he looked over Shiro, disgusted by what he saw. "Thing... elsewhere. The adults need to speak." Zangetsu looked at Shiro and the white haired boy sighed before leaving with the other. They sat in their usual place by the stream in silence. _

_"You're dad's a prick." Shiro commented and the nine year old sighed deeply. _

_"Yeah I know. How's Sky?" the two boys shared the same parents but to them, they each only had one. Shiro had a mother and Zangetsu had a father, a shitty one at that.  
_

_"You know, you **can** call her "mom" around me." the older boy looked around to make sure no one was around. _

_"How's... how's mom?" he whispered, causing the other to chuckle at his paranoia though with his father, he didn't blame him.  
_

_"She's alright... she got sick last week and we had to stay home for awhile but she's better now." he nodded in understanding before they returned to silence. "How's your training going?" He sighed again. _

_"Exhausting." _

_"I bet..." Zangetsu was currently undergoing training with monks up in the high mountains to gain inhuman powers, given to him by the gods because he was the "chosen one." Out of seven children, one was chosen and the rest were killed, however, the mother had seen something great in the last one to come and begged for his life to be spared. That child was Shirosaki. The two jumped up at the sound of a scream. "Mother!" Shiro yelled as he ran toward the sound, recognizing her voice. When they came to where they had left the two, Shiro was infuriated by what he saw. His mother was on the ground, holding her face where the man had just hit her. Outraged, Shiro picked up a big stick and ran toward him, yelling. His intent set on killing him. Being only seven, he was no match for the warrior who grabbed the end of the stick, pulled him closer, and hit him. His small body was lifted off the ground as he was thrown backward from the impact. _

_"Shiro!" Sky exclaimed, rushing to pick him up from the ground and check for injuries. The back of his head was bleeding a little from hitting a rock and a bruise was already forming on his face. _

_"You will learn your place Shirosaki." when the man stepped forward, Sky used her body to protect her son. _

_"No! Please don't hurt him!" _

_"You will teach him discipline or he will join his brothers." Sky stopped breathing at the thought of losing her beloved son, her precious baby. "Zangetsu." the boy straightened up at the command, his fearful face turning emotionless as his father turned to him. "Let's go." without a word, the boy followed him. Regardless of the fact that if caught, he'd get beaten, he looked back with a sympathetic look on his face as he waved to his brother. Shiro didn't really know what was going on, everything had blurred and was slowly fading. _

_"It's okay baby. It's okay, I won't let him take you." he faintly heard his mother's voice before slipping into unconsciousness.  
_

* * *

"Wow... and you think _I'm_ an asswhole." Grimmjow joked but Shirosaki didn't laugh. "Come on that's behind you now. Look forward and progress. Don't dwell on such stupid things." the demon looked at him and after a few minutes, slowly returned his smile. The blunet still had so many questions but he didn't want to overwhelm the other so he figured that that would be enough for the day. He was grateful that he even got that much. "Well... wanna go for that swim now? The water seems to be calling out to both of us." he chuckled, his smile still in place as he held his hand out for the demon. Shirosaki took it, rolling his eyes but his small smile remained.

"Yeah." he answered as the other helped him up before stripping down to his boxers.

* * *

Another chapter out... this is going pretty well. I don't know about you guys but to me, it's flowing a lot better now than what it was and we get a better view into how the brothers came to be. See ya next chapter which should also be out today!


	3. First Contact

**_BOOM! Guess who's back? SUKI'S BACK! Suki's back with a BOOM!_ **

Okay I really liked how this chapter turned out so I decided to keep it the way it was for the most part but there are some changes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anyone in this fic.

* * *

It had been a few hours now and in all honesty... regardless of still kind of hating each other... they were having fun. Shiro seen a big wave coming and pointed it out to Grimmjow before they started swimming farther out into the ocean toward it. When it finally hit them, they were forced under the surface of the water. When the spirit stopped spinning, he looked over to the blunet to make sure he was okay and was surprised to see Ichigo. He fought with himself for only a moment before swimming over to him, gently cupping the berry's face in his hands and pulled him into a soft kiss. Even in the water, he could taste the strawberry flavor of his lips. It was weak but there none the less. The berry's tongue gained entrance immediately, not even bothering to ask for permission as if this was nothing new but it was all new for Shiro, his first kiss... he was so glad that it now belonged to Ichigo. The strawberry taste was now stronger but was slowly being washed away by the water that had gotten into his mouth. When he needed air from being under water too long, he pulled out of the kiss and pushed away from the blue haired man in front of him. The demon quickly surfaced when his lungs could no longer hold on and gasped for air, watching as Grimmjow surfaced as well.

"What the... fucking Hell?" Shiro yelled, splashing water at the blunet.

"That's my line! You're the one who kissed me!" the blunet yelled back.

"That's because you-" he stopped. Grimmjow didn't need to know his feelings for Ichigo. "You're right... I'm sorry." he said blankly, starting to swim back to shore.

"W-wait a minute Shirosaki." Grimmjow called, going after him.

"Just leave me alone..." Shiro said sadly as his feet touched the sand and he started walking. How could he have been so stupid? There's no way that Ichigo could have been there, it was just wishful thinking. He wanted to spend that time with Ichigo not Grimmjow but he feels that since he'll never actually be able to meet Ichigo... never be able to have him... he felt as though through Grimmjow was the closest he'd ever be able to get. Grimmjow had kissed Ichigo and so by kissing Grimmjow, indirectly that meant he had kissed the berry.

"Hey I said wait!" Grimmjow called again.

"And I said leave me the Hell alone!" Shiro yelled, turning on the other, a red and black aura lightly showing around him. Grimmjow backed up, staring wide eyed at him. The demon suddenly started to sway, his eyes rolled back, and the aura faded. As he fell forward, the blunet hurried to catch him before he could hit the ground.

"Shiro? Shirosaki!" Grimmjow shouted trying to bring him to bring him back to consciousness but every attempt was a failure.

* * *

"Nhnnn..." Shiro groaned as he tried to remember what had just happened. His vision was blurry and the bright sun's rays weren't helping him to recover. Clouds... small white clouds lay across a bright blue sky. 'No... no please... don't tell me...'

"It's about time you woke up. Using your power in Ichigo's body will hurt him. What were you thinking?" Zangetsu's harsh voice asked. He looked up at see the older boy, his shaggy brown hair moving with the wind along with his black outfit. Though Zangetsu was older, his childish face made him seem younger. Shiro used to like him but after certain events occurred, Zangetsu began to hate him and they grew apart. The demon just turned away, hugging his knees close to his chest and resting his head in the space between them.

"Just leave me alone..." his brother sighed before his presence faded and Shiro looked back just to make sure that he was gone before looking at his hands. Long snow white fingers, black fingernails... he looked down into a window of the sideways building he was on, looking at his own reflection. White hair, white skin, black and gold eyes... he was a demon... a monster... he curled back into a tight ball. He disgusted himself. He would never be good enough for Ichigo... never. "That's all I am... all I'll ever be..." he wanted to cry but his eyes were dry. "A monster." No one could ever know how he felt. He was alone and that's how it should stay. Something wet fell onto his cheek and at first he thought it was a tear but he looked up just as it slowly began to rain, the white clouds gone dark and the bright sky now black. "Why are you crying Ichigo? Are you sad too?" Shiro asked aloud as if the boy could maybe somehow hear him. "Please don't be sad Ichi..." he buried his head in his knees again. "I would do anything... give anything... just to see you... to be there with you..." he couldn't tell if it was just rain anymore or if he really was crying now. The rain picked up, pouring down on the demon who sat motionless. "Please don't cry... I would do anything... just to make you smile..." Shiro sat in silence after that, allowing Ichigo's tears to fall on him.

* * *

"Shiro? Shirosaki!" a familiar voice yelled in the distance of the darkness that surrounded him.

'Shiro? Who's that? Is that me? Who's calling me? Is it someone important? Someone I love?' a vision ran before him but he couldn't exactly make out what he was being shown. 'There's... buildings... lots of them... and it's... raining. Wait... I think there's someone there... but who?'

"Please don't cry..." an unfamiliar voice said gently.

'Crying? Am I crying? Why am I sad? Am I hurt?' seeing slightly more detail of the person, there was only one thing he could tell for sure. 'White... it's so pretty... just like snow...'

"Ichigo! Ichigo can you hear me?" the first voice called again and the vision disappeared.

'Ichigo... another name? Is that me too? Who am I?'

* * *

"Hey!"

"G... Grimmjow?" the berry asked, trying to clear his head as everything came flooding back into him.

"Oh Ichigo, thank god!" his blunet exclaimed in relief, holding the boy close. "What happened?"

"I..." he tried to remember... he felt as though something important had just happened but the last thing he remembered was laying with Grimmjow on his couch. "I... don't know..." he figured it was best he didn't tell him about the image... he'd think he was crazy... maybe he was.

"I'm just so glad you're okay..." the blunet held him tighter. Ichigo didn't listen to anything the other said, more so that he couldn't. He just stared at the dark clouds above him as water dripped down in his face before rolling down it.

'How long has it been raining?'

... ... ... ... ...

Ichigo stared out the window, feeling a very strong urge to go out and sit in the pouring rain. He felt as though they were someone's tears... the tears of someone he desperately wanted to comfort. But Grimmjow refused to let go of him so he just sat in his lap as the everyone watched the movie that was playing on Grimmjow's TV but he couldn't take is eyes off of the falling water. A bunch of their friends had come over to Grimmjow's house to watch a new movie he had just bought but he couldn't care less about it.

* * *

As the girl walked down the walls hurriedly, she slightly rang the water out of her dark hair. Her face was blank and emotionless. That's the way she was created, for the sole purpose of providing her service to her master. When she came to the door she was heading for, she knocked twice, and entered when instructed to do so.

"There's been progress." she said lifelessly. "I have reason to believe that Ichigo Kurosaki has made the first connection with his inner beings." the man sitting in the chair before her chuckled, not turning around to face her as he continued to type the new information into his computer.

"Excellent. The day is coming much faster than expected, isn't it?"

* * *

Ichigo was looking out of the nearest window, to watch the rain that hadn't yet stopped since it had begun yesterday. He had been dragged back to the mall to meet up with the others but still couldn't focus on anything but the rain.

"Right Ichigo?" Rukia asked him but he couldn't hear her.

"Ichi?" Grimmjow asked, putting his hand on his shoulder and the berry's eyes slowly moved to his. "Are you okay?" he just nodded slightly, looking back outside. Everyone sat in silence, watching the berry with worried expressions.

"You guys... what's going on?" he asked, still not looking at any of them. "Whose tears are those and why do they hurt me? No more lies, I want to know." Ichigo said, slightly glaring at them from the corner of his eye and they all just looked down. They wanted to tell him but they just weren't allowed to. The oranget took the hint and stood. "Whatever... it doesn't matter." he said sadly though he meant for it to sound rude. Feeling his eyes beginning to water, he turned his back to them, heading for the exit. Why was he always the one abandoned in the dark? As he stepped outside, he looked at the rain, debated whether or not to walk through it to his car or to put his hood up and avoid it. Two parts of him told him to do each. He and Grimmjow had taken their own cars because Grimmjow said that he had somewhere he needed to go after this so the berry would have to take himself home, which he didn't mind, he wanted to be alone.

He finally decided that it couldn't hurt to just go through it. Every time it rained, he's always gone out to stand in it. The rain made him happy. To him, the rain was a connection of all things to something much greater than themselves, he just didn't yet know what that greater thing was. Why was he even debating this? He loved the rain. He sighed deeply, sticking his hands in his pockets, before stepping out into it, instantly being filled with more sorrow. He looked up to allow the rain to hit his face.

'Why are you crying? Please stop.'

'_I'm crying because you are._' a strange voice said and he looked around but there was no one near him. He hadn't noticed but he had started to cry.

'I'm sorry, I'll try to stop.' he thought, wiping his tears away but more came.

'_You... you can hear me?_' the voice asked in shock.

'Well if we're talking, I guess.'

'_This is so amazing-I have so many questions to ask you!_' the voice in his head exclaimed in excitement. The rain slowly let up and the voice became fuzzy as it started to fade away. '_Listen I know you... and you have... but Grimm... I really..._'

"Hey... hey wait don't go!" he yelled out loud, gaining weird stares from people walking by but he didn't care. The voice was gone just as the rain was. "What... just... happened?" he asked himself confused.

* * *

Whoo! More progress! Please review and I'll see you soon.


	4. A Given Chance

**_BOOM! Guess who's back? SUKI'S BACK! Suki's back with a BOOM!_**

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anyone in this fic nor do I "Harder to breathe" or Maroon 5 (Ichigo's ringtone for Grimmjow)

* * *

The berry sat with his arms folded over the arm of the couch, his head resting on them. He sighed at the soft knock on the door, he knew it was Grimmjow but he didn't want to talk to him, knowing that the blunet wouldn't tell him whatever it was that he was obviously hiding. The man was his boyfriend for god's sake and he wouldn't even tell him something about himself that he didn't know? He sighed deeply again. He just wanted to talk to that voice again but didn't know how to. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and text Grimmjow to go away, receiving one back almost instantly.

_No_

He growled at the simple answer but it wasn't a question. Sliding his keyboard open, he quickly punched in his next response.

_Don't fuck with me Grimm I'm serious_

_Yea so am I we need to talk_

_About what? About what's going on with me cuz that's the only thing I wanna talk about_

_I can't I'm sorry but I'm not allowed too Ichi I'm sorry_

The berry growled again, standing up and locking the door which Grimmjow then knocked on again, begging him to open the door but Ichigo just ignored him, proceeding into his room to collapse onto his bed face first, screaming into the mattress. _Harder to Breathe_ by Maroon 5 started to play, knowing it was his ringtone for Grimmjow, he rejected the call. He really _didn't_ want to talk to him.

_Really Ichigo? I'm just trying to talk to you_

Ichigo sighed yet again but figured he'd try one last time but was still too angry at the blunet to be nice about it.

_Unless it's about what the hell has been happening to me then I don't care!_

_Fine it's about you_

_Now you're lying! Just leave Grimmjow I don't want to deal with this shit_

_Come on Ichi knock it off_

He put his phone on silent and put it on the nightstand, getting it out of his hand so that he wouldn't throw it across the room. He rolled onto his back and placed his hands over his face. He knew he was being stubborn but he had good reason. He was keeping secrets about him that he didn't know but understood that they were important, he wanted-needed to know and they wouldn't tell him. Some friends.

'You'll be my friend won't you?' Ichigo thought to the voice and was sad when it didn't respond.

* * *

"How dare that bastard! When I get outta here, I'm gonna kick his ass! When someone confronts you on something, you're supposed to admit it, not just say, 'I'm not allowed to tell you.'" Shiro exclaimed, pacing. The buildings had dried and though the sky had gotten a bit brighter, it was still pretty dark. "Pussy!" the white demon tilted his head up and screamed at the sky, hoping it would reach the blunet.

"Shiro..." he ignored Zangetsu and continued ranting.

"I mean seriously, who the Hell does he think he is? Treating my berry like that..." the demon trailed off, thinking about the berry's voice. It was the first time he had actually heard it directly... it was beautiful.

"Shirosaki."

"What?" he shot, turning to face the older man, angry to have his thoughts interrupted.

"Ichigo's trying to talk to you-"

"He is?" he shouted in excitement, cutting the other off.

"I'll leave you alone." the brunet said, disappearing. Shiro liked that he was such a respectable guy but slapped himself for showing so much emotion in front of him. His brother was a bit of a hard ass like his dad but sometimes he was alright.

"Ichigo? Ichigo I'm here." he called to the sky, hoping it would reach him.

_"Hm... I guess you're not there..."_ the berry's voice replied sadly.

"No... no I'm here! I'm here!" he yelled in desperation. He wanted to talk to him so badly, Ichigo didn't hear what he had tried to tell him earlier.

_"_O_h well, I'll just pretend like you can hear me, in hopes that you can." _Shiro sighed and sat down, knowing it wouldn't do him any good to just keep yelling, it would only keep him from hearing the others words. _"I saw an image of you... while I was at the beach. I'm not sure how I got there but... you were sad. Or at least... I think it was you... it's fuzzy but there was rain and lots of tall buildings." _Shiro's eyes widened. _"I think there was a person there but their back was turned to me and I think they were crying. Was that you?_"

"It was... you were... standing right behind me... the entire time..." the white being spoke slowly.

_"There's only one thing I remember about you... white._"

'Great... now he either hates me or he's afraid of me...' Shiro sighed, depression overwhelming him.

_"It was extraordinary. Unlike anything I've ever seen, amazing, beautiful, pure, there's so many words I can use to describe you... my favorite being perfect."_ he couldn't believe his ears... all this time he's been thinking of his odd appearance as disgusting and Ichigo thinks he's perfect? What was this sudden feeling of warmth inside of him?_ "I really wish I could be more like you. Someone no one can compare to... someone that can hide away from this terrible world..."_ he got a bit sad after hearing that.

"It's not as great as it sounds... in here it's very lonely and..."

"It gets so boring." their voices spoke at the same time and it was quiet for a while.

_"I can't forget your voice either... so strong and kind though with a certain demonic flare to it. Though there's one thing that I didn't like..."_ only one? He needed to know what it was so he could fix it. _"I hated hearing the sadness in your voice."_ Shiro let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd held and looked down sadly.

"I'm so sorry Ichi... I'll try harder to be happy for you."

"_But I'm happy that I was able to help cheer you up and... you helped me. I'm glad we got to talk even if it was brief and I really hope we get to talk again sometime. You seem like a really cool person."_ Shiro lowered his head in an attempt to hide his smile from anyone who may be watching him... maybe even simply from himself. Ichigo didn't say anything after that. Not long after the godly voice left his world, his head shot up with a new, brilliant idea in mind.

* * *

Shiro sighed in relief, glad to be back in Ichigo's body. He preferred a physical body over being nothing more than a spirit. Rolling out of bed, he stood and walked over to the berry's desk, pulling a notebook out of one of the drawers and grabbing a pen. He wrote Ichigo a note and stuck it under his pillow. He always slept with one arm under it and the other above so his hand would surely hit it. He looked at Ichigo's phone and smirked before picking it up. Grimmjow had sent at least a dozen texts but he didn't bother with reading them and sent him one.

_Are ya still outside?_

He turned the phone back on vibrate so that he would be able to know when Grimm texted him back.

_Yea where else would I be?_

_You've really pissed King off so go fuck yourself and if ya brake in again I'm gonna kick yer ass and call the cops got it?_

It was awhile before he received a text back.

_What the hell Shirosaki just let me in can't I at least talk to you_

_That's a negative Grimmy King don't want ya in here so just be a good little kitty and prance off_

Shiro starting laughing only able to imagine the look on his face. Now that he had a way of talking to Ichigo, he no longer needed the blunet. When the angry panther started pounding on the door again demanding to be let in, Shiro rushed to the door to press his ear against it, listening for what would happen next. Someone-a woman-came out of her apartment to yell at him and he growled before leaving. The demon started laughing again, backing up and falling on the floor of the living room, holding his stomach. He couldn't wait to see what he would say when Ichigo's phone vibrated in his hand.

_I'm gonna kill you I swear to god I am_

He laughed harder at the empty threat, they both knew that he never would plus he actually wasn't "allowed" to even be touching the demon. If Ichigo thought he was perfect the way he was, then he was just fine with being a demon.

* * *

"Excellent work, we'll need to get him soon won't we, Nemu?"

"Yes Mayuri." the dark haired girl said with an emotionless voice, standing straight out of her bow. She had just finished telling the odd man the details of Ichigo's first encounter with the beings within him.

"It seems Kurosaki is progressing much faster than we even have recently thought... I'll have to do some more research..." the man trailed off, turning back to his large computer. "Nemu!"

"Yes Mayuri?"

"Follow Kurosaki closer, watch his every move. I want to know how often and how long these inner beings are able to possess him and which one does it more. Learn each of their quirks, every little thing that sets them apart."

"Yes Mayuri." Nemu said before turning to the exit, leaving the man to his work.

* * *

"Dad I'll talk to you later, I need to get to bed, I've got work in the morning." Ichigo said with a yawn.

"But son we just-"

"Good night dad." he said annoyed and hung up as he headed into the bathroom. After showering, he slipped into dark blue boxers and walked into his room, drying his hair with one hand and going through his texts with the other. Most of them were from Grimmjow, asking to come in and there were some from Karin, asking if it was okay for her and Yuzu to visit this weekend which he accepted. It had been awhile since he had seen them last and he didn't have to work so why not? The last few messages caught his eye. They were between him and Grimmjow but he hadn't sent them. "Shirosaki... I've heard that name before... well that just proves that whatever is going on with me that he knows about it and just won't tell me." he growled, turning his phone's volume up before plugging it into it's charger and laying it on the edge of the nightstand. "Oh well, I'll ask my friend about it tomorrow." he turned the light off and sighed in relief when he crawled into bed. When his arm easy slid under the pillow, it hit something that felt and sounded like paper. He raised an eyebrow in confusion but pulled it out and turned the lamp on to read it.

_I just wanted to say that yes it was me sitting in the rain, crying._

After reading that first line, Ichigo shot up in bed, now filled with excitement.

_That place you saw with the sideways skyscrapers was your inner world where me and Zangetsu live. We're two other souls that live with yours in your body, that's what no one will tell you. I'm really glad we got a chance to talk too and I'm really sorry that I couldn't answer you earlier, I tried, believe me I did. But no matter how much I yelled, you didn't seem to hear me. Grimmjow hates me, everyone hates me, they call me a monster and a demon but just hearing that you like me as I am makes me think that maybe I'm not as terrible as everyone thinks I am. If you think I'm perfect then I'm fine with being a demon. You know when you were talking about wanting to be like me? It's not so great here, it's really lonely, me and Zan never talk and there's nothing to do. He might like it that way but I don't. We actually said, "It gets so boring here." at the same time._

Ichigo chuckled, imagining how their voices would sound together.

_Your voice is so godly to me, it's all I know. You really did help me and I'm glad that I was somehow able to help you but the sky here is still a little dark here, are you alright? I hope we can talk more and don't worry, your "blackouts" are just me taking a little time out of your mind. Sorry I never asked permission to take over your body but your body is just so irresistible plus you didn't even know I existed. My name is Shirosaki but please don't call me that, it's just Shiro. Good night Ichi, have a good day at work tomorrow and tell Orihime to stop staring at you for me. _

Ichigo laughed at last part before staring at the words, reading them over and over again with a dark shade of blush invading his cheeks. He flopped back down onto the mattress, covering his eyes with one arm as he laughed though not sure why. As he turned the light out again, he rolled over on his side, hugging the note close to his chest. He didn't care that everyone was lying to him anymore, this was just amazing.

"Shiro..." he whispered the name, thinking of how perfectly it fit his demon. It comforted the berry greatly to know that he was there and always would be there. Why did everyone want to keep him from even knowing that they existed? "Good night Shiro..." was the last thing he said before drifting off into calming dreams instead of the nightmares he fell into from time to time.

* * *

Ichigo's vision was a bit blurry and he knew what that meant, he just gotten out of a "blackout." He was dressed in dark jeans, a black long sleeved shirt under a tight white T shirt that gently clung to his chest, pure black skater shoes, and his black fingerless gloves that he hadn't worn in a few months now. But if Shiro liked them, it was fine with him. He was sat at the table with a plate of waffles, sausage, and hash browns in front of him. His favorite. He smiled but felt guilty that the other knew everything about him but he knew nothing about him. Judging by the time, Shiro had gone to work for him, come back, changed out of his uniform, and made him a late lunch. As he started eating, his eye caught the black mini notebook he was gonna start carrying everywhere he went so that he could talk to Shiro. He picked it up and reread what he had written in it this morning.

_I'm sorry that I made you cry but thanks for telling me about you and Zangetsu. Great idea with using the notes by the way, I would have never thought of it. You're not a monster and I'm not a god, I was mad at Grimm and everyone else but after I read your note, I was happy. Does the weather there change depending on my feelings? And my body's not as amazing as you make it sound. But I have a favor to ask, can you figure out how my friends know about you while I had no idea and why they wouldn't tell me? I kinda feel like I'm using you by asking this but I know that they won't tell me._

He sighed, still feeling like he was using him and turned the page. The handwriting was a little different than his but it looked better.

_I try to get involved with yer friends as little as possible... but I guess I can ask some questions and get more details for ya and if they refuse, I'll show them how much of a demon I can really be. I would tell ya but I don't know about them, only about me and Zan. And yes the weather changes here depending on yer mood, it was really bright and sunny last night. I must say that ya look really cute when you blush._

As Ichigo read the words written neatly on the page, he blushed. He took a deep breath and wrote back with the red pen that lay next to it though Shiro's message was written in blue ink. Maybe he was trying to color code it?

_That's alright, I'll arrange a meeting with them right now so that we can get the information. I have to ask, what were you trying to say the other day when we were talking? I heard something about Grimmjow but that's about it._

The man sighed, standing up from the table when he finished eating and carried his plate over to the sink to rinse it off, and set it at the bottom. He'd wash it when he got home. He went to put his shoes on before realizing that they were already on. He added onto his little note to Shiro as he walked out the door.

_And stop wearing your shoes in the house._

He put the notebook in his pocket and pulled his phone out of the other to call Grimmjow.

"Ichi are you alright?" he answered quickly.

"I'm fine, call everyone else and tell them to get to the mall, I'm already on my way." with that he hung up and left.

* * *

Morez, morez! Please review! ^-^


	5. Confrontation

Kay sorry for the delay, I've been on a major Writer's Block but I'm fighting my way out of it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anyone in this fic.

* * *

As the berry walked into the mall, he sighed, seeing that everyone else was already there, waiting for him at the entrance. He had walked there so it wasn't a surprise that he was the first to leave and the last to arrive.

"What's this about?" Toshiro asked but Ichigo just walked pasted him, remaining silent.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asked, cautiously placing her hand on his arm.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning to see her. Her worried expression turned into one of relief. "I'm just going to the usual spot. We'll talk there." she nodded and let go of him as they all followed. He started to get really nervous as they all sat at a table near the food court. Shiro hadn't taken over yet and he had no idea what to say. "So uh..."

"You're the one who called us." Renji pointed out and Ichigo just nodded as he looked down, begging Shiro to take over. The boy held his head and everyone asked if he was alright.

"I don't know what I'm doing..."

"Ichi what happened?" Grimmjow asked concerned, placing a hand on his shoulder but it was rejected as the other sat up, still looking down.

"Don't touch me." he growled.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asked worriedly and he shook his head, a smile beginning to grow on his lips as he finally looked up with an evil glare in those black and golden eyes.

"What's up bitches?" everyone stared at him wide eyed, this was the first time that they had met him face to face other than Grimmjow. "Really? Come on, this ain't that big a fucking shock."

"Piss off Shirosaki." Grimmjow growled and Shiro glared sexually at him.

"Now, now Kitty, what's with the harshness? Just last night ya were being so nice ta me, don't cha remember?" Grimmjow glared at him in warning. "Ya even kissed me." the others looked at him with a what-the-Hell look and Shiro chuckled, turning away from him.

"_You_ kissed _me_." he growled angrily as his hands clenched into fists.

"But ya kissed back so what difference does it make?" he asked mockingly, looking away as if anything else was more interesting. He noticed a woman watching him. He had seen her before but Ichigo having a stalker didn't bother him so long as they didn't try anything on him. "Anyway…" he turned back to them. "I want answers and just a heads up, no ain't an answer."

"What do you want?" Toshiro asked seriously.

"I just said 'answers' didn't I?" he asked annoyed. "First question, what the Hell do you want with Ichigo?"

"Why does it matter to you?" Grimmjow shot and Rukia hit him, telling him to knock it off.

"Yeah Grimmy, knock it off." the demon smirked and the blunet growled loudly at him, warning him to shut up though his threat was ignored. "Toshiro, you seem like a reasonable type of guy. How about you talk to me and I'll talk to you?" Toshiro sighed but nodded, knowing that they needed to information. "Then answer the question." the small man sighed again and looked in the opposite direction, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

"We're part of a secret organization known as "Arrancar." We've been raised on myths and stories of Shirosaki and Zangetsu and we've been trained and tested since childhood for the day that Zangetsu will be taken out of Ichigo..." he trailed off, feeling a little awkward now.

"How'd you know it was Berry?" asked rudely now, not liking where this was going.

"Isshin called it in. You must remember." Renji shot with a glare. "You got Ichigo into the hospital all the time and when he was finally able to convince the doctors that there was nothing wrong with him, you got him put back in." Shirosaki glared at the speaker. Yes… he remembered it all perfectly.

Ichigo got up into the hospital for many reasons the most recurring reason being he got into a "fight" though really, it was mostly his own doing. He would get scared of being there and fearful of what they would do to him if they found out what he was really doing so Shiro would get him out and back home. After his mother had died, the young strawberry hated life, he wanted to go somewhere else –he wanted to join his mother in death. But Shiro would never allow the boy to die and he sure as Hell would never hurt him –that's the _last_ thing he would ever fucking do. He wanted to hurt everyone who hurt him, he wanted to make him happy, and he wanted anything and everything that he wanted. The boy was all he knew and he wanted nothing more than to keep him safe. One day, the boy had attempted to kill himself but Shiro quickly took over his body, went downstairs, and told his dad. When he let Ichigo back out, his father asked him why he had tried to commit suicide and the boy broke down and told him everything. He only meant the berry good.

"It's just a good thing that we got into it before you were able to kill him." Renji spat and Shiro growled loudly, clenching his fists tightly as he glared death at the red head.

"Renji knock it off, we're not sure why he did any of that." Rukia stood up for him.

"What else could he have being trying to do? You read the reports, he fucked Ichigo up. You were trying to kill him isn't that-" he was forced to stop when Shiro punched him from across the table.

"If I was trying to kill him, he would've been dead a long time ago! Now get the fuck outta here before I kill _you_!" the demon yelled, angry and sad tears forming in his eyes though went unnoticed by everyone but himself.

"What the Hell?" the man on the floor exclaimed, holding his now bleeding nose, his cheek already showing a dark bruise.

"Did ya forget who the fuck yer dealin' with?" the demon asked psychotically and Toshiro quickly told Rukia to take him home which she did before the red head had a chance to say another word. Shiro took a second to look around at everyone staring and sat down, banging his head on the table with a loud thud. Grimmjow watched him sadly. He had noticed the tears in his eyes and wanted to know what had really happened.

"Toshiro go with them." the blunet ordered. Knowing he was higher and calling the shots, Toshiro followed the other two Arrancar.

"I didn't... I'm not trying to kill him..." Shiro mumbled more to himself. The blunet lightly tugged on his arm and he stood up, allowing the older man to lead him away.

* * *

They were walking away from the mall in silence as they each remained in their own thoughts. Grimmjow understood that the other needed some time to calm down and was giving him that time.

"So you, Toshiro, Renji, and Rukia are Arrancar and you were trained for a day that hasn't come yet to take Zangetsu out of Ichigo..." he trailed off, hinting that he was calm now and to pick up from there.

"Well actually, Renji, Rukia, and Toshiro are Arrancar. I'm an Espada which is a higher level than they are, with more duties and such. There are ten Espada, me being the sixth and well, you'll meet them all eventually. I think you've already met one though haven't you? Szayel?"

"Ahh yes, Szayel, the pink haired freak."

"Yeah... what happened with him?" the blunet asked curiously.

"It was one of the times Ichigo was in the hospital… he came in and closed the curtains, said his name was Szayel and that he was going to be Ichi's new doctor. He scared the Hell out of Ichigo... he was doing all kinds of tests on the poor kid and he stuck his finger in his mouth for one of the tests or something, I don't know but that's when I jumped in and nearly bit his finger off. Seeing the difference in our eyes, he asked who I was and I told him it was none of his god damn business..." he trailed off as if remembering something bad. "He smiled and strapped me down before injecting some really hot fluids into my neck... I remember screaming and... and that's it. Next I knew Ichigo had grown up. He wasn't ten anymore, he was eighteen and had just finished moving into the place he's at now. It's been five years since then but I've never forgotten him. I'll kill him the next time I see him..." he vowed as if just refreshing his own memory of it.

"So he repressed you?" Shiro nodded. "After he moved is about the time that we were sent to get close to him." Shiro glared at him, knowing what that meant. They weren't his real friends and Grimmjow didn't love him. They were just trying to get to Zangetsu. He decided not to say anything about it, not wanting to listen to any excuses.

"So on this day that Zangetsu's soul will get torn apart from Ichigo's, I'm going to be held back and destroyed." it wasn't a question, he knew he was going to be killed and he didn't really care so long as he knew Ichigo would be safe. The demon suddenly punched the blunet and pinned him to the ground when he fell. "That'll kill Ichigo too you bastard!"

"Don't you think I know that?" he yelled back, his guilt showing through his voice and his eyes. Shiro looked down in sorrow and got off of him, sitting on the ground with his hands in his lap.

"So why are you doing it?" he asked sadly.

"Because it's... Zangetsu's supposed to save the world." Grimmjow said as he sat up though he sounded like he didn't really believe it.

"From what?"

"You." he answered bluntly. Shiro nodded, the others words not really even reaching him. He stood up, and started walking again. He needed to get home. "Hey... are you alright?" he didn't respond so Grimmjow got to his feet and hurried over to him. "Shiro?" he walked in front of him to see tears flowing down his face.

"Please d-don't... don't let them... kill him..." Shiro said slowly, trying not to choke on his tears as he tried to wipe them away.

"There's nothing I can do..."

"No!" Shiro cried, pounding on the others chest. "No don't say that! You can't! You can't let them!" Grimmjow grabbed his hands to stop him from hitting him.

"There's nothing I can do about it okay?" he shouted, feeling a tear escape his own eye. Shiro rested his head against Grimmjow's chest as he sobbed.

"You can't... don't let him die. I... I love him." the blunet looked down at him sympathetically and let his hands go to wrap his arms around him in an attempt to comfort the demon.

"I know... so do I."

* * *

_Wow I'm speechless... well thanks for figuring that out and telling me. And don't be sorry for decking Renji, he had it coming._

Ichigo didn't know what else to say... why was that so important for his friends to keep from him? Shiro had told him everything that he had gathered other than the fact that if Zangetsu was removed and Shiro destroyed, that it'd kill him as well. He didn't want to worry the berry because he _was_ going to find a way to keep him alive. No matter what. Ichigo sighed again and got up from the couch as he turned off the TV to walk to his room. Before laying down, he placed the notebook and his phone on the night stand. It was still pretty bright outside but it wouldn't be too long until night came. He didn't feel like eating... he wasn't really depressed... that's a lie, he was. He wouldn't let them kill Shiro, he just wouldn't. But he was mostly confused. Why was all this so important to hide from him? Wouldn't it be better if he knew so they could all work together? But he and Shiro had decided that it would be best if the others didn't know that he knew. It took a few hours but the berry finally fell asleep.

* * *

As the oranget walked through the door of the music store he worked at, he was instantly greeted with a plate of varying chocolates shoved in his face.

"You said that you really loved chocolate so I went home and made you some." Orihime exclaimed in excitement.

'Some... there's more than _some_ on that plate. And when did I say that? It's true but I don't remember telling her that.' Ichigo thought to himself as he accepted the plate of treats and put on a friendly smile. "Thank you Orihime, it's good to have such a great friend as you." he said kindly, patting her head before continuing on to get behind the counter. He set the plate down on the desk and sat down, picking up his book from where he had left it. Having just opened, it would be awhile before anyone came in so he had some time to read. It was at least an hour or two until people started coming in whether it was to buy something, look around, or just play with the instruments.

"Hi Ichigo!" someone called and Ichigo looked up from his book to see a little girl with bright pink hair standing in front of the desk.

"Oh hey Yachiru, back again today?" the oranget greeted, putting his book down. He had met the small girl a little over a year ago and had become friends. She wanted to learn to play the guitar and Ichigo promised that when she got good at it, he'd buy her one. That only made her more excited and she came in even more often.

"Yup dad just dropped me off on his way to work. He said that if he's not off by the time your shift ends, I can go home with you."

"Really? That's great, it's been awhile since I've had you over." he said cheerfully as he walked around the counter to kneel next to her. What perfect timing the little girl had, she was just the distraction he needed to get his mind off of everything. He was about to say something when her stomach growled and he laughed.

"Sorry I was too excited to eat this morning..." she trailed off as Ichigo stood up and leaned over the counter.

"Well you're in luck, I just happen to have chocolate." he said, holding the plate out for her and she took some.

"Thank you!" she shouted, maybe just _maybe_ she loved chocolate as much as he did. The bell on the door rang and both of them turned to see a large man with dark hair that was spiked back. He wore an eye patch over his right eye though there was nothing wrong with it though there was a long scar that ran down his face, through his left eye. "Daddy Ichigo gave me chocolate!"

"Then he's the one who's dealing with your sugar rush."

"Hey Kenpachi." Ichigo greeting, slightly waving as he stood up.

"Hey Ichigo, just wanted to see if you were free today."

"Yeah, Chiru already told me. I'm not doing anything today so it's fine if she comes home with me, I don't mind." he said, putting the plate back where it was.

"I'll be working late so I just wanted to make sure."

"It's fine. If you just wanna leave her at my place for the night you can just pick her up here tomorrow afternoon. When do you get off?"

"Six." he answered simply.

"I get off at four... so just pick her up at my house after you get off?" Kenpachi nodded and knelt down to his small daughter to give her a kiss and tell her he'd see her tomorrow and to be good for Ichigo. She promised she would be and returned his kiss before waving to him as he left. Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It wasn't too long ago that Kenpachi had given up on offering the berry money because Ichigo never accepted it. He knew that they needed the money right now and the berry enjoyed Yachiru's company. Yachiru took after her mom who had been killed in a bank robbery about a year ago, shortly before he met them but it was odd to the oranget that the girl didn't seem to notice that she was gone. She said that her mom was always with her in her heart no matter what. If only Ichigo had seen that when he was going through that… she gave Ichigo hope.

He took her hand and led her to the back, calling for Orihime as they went. When they got to the back room that they usually practiced in, Ichigo took two guitars off of a self, one smaller than the other. He handed the smaller one to Yachiru and when Orihime came in, he handed the bigger one to her.

"Alright let me know when you're done, I'll be in the front." Ichigo said, running a hand through the small girl's hair. She laughed and moved his hand, saying bye. Ichigo walked back to the front to continue reading. He really wished that he could be the one to teach her but he didn't know how to play the guitar so Yachiru said that when she learned, she'd teach him. He laughed at the thought as he faintly heard them start practicing. He looked at the chocolate which had been calling to him all day, he was trying not to have any right now but he just couldn't help it anymore and took a small piece, slowly eating it, savoring the wonderful flavor. Orihime might be a little too obsessed with him to the point it was annoying but Ichigo had to admit that she was a great cook. Someone cleared their throat and Ichigo looked up, seeing a girl with dark hair in front of him.

"Oh sorry, can I help you?" he asked, once again lowering his book.

"I just wanted to say that I really liked that song you played yesterday. We didn't get a chance to talk for too long and I was wondering if you had named it yet." he looked at her funny.

"Uh... song?"

"On the guitar. It was very beautiful. You told me that it was for someone very close to you but it had no name." she explained and for some reason he got the feeling that she knew he would have no idea what she was talking about.

"Oh yeah... sorry it's been a long day... um... no, still no name. But, uh, if you have any suggestions, let me know." he said slowly, rubbing the back of his head.

"I will. We'll be in touch Mr. Kurosaki." with that, she left as if that's all she came in to say. Ichigo watched her leave, the weird expression remaining on his face.

'I don't play the guitar... and who the Hell was that? I don't think I've ever met her before…' he thought before pulling the mini notebook out of his pocket to add to it. Maybe Shiro had something to do with this.

_Since when did we play the guitar?_

He set it down and went back to his book.

**... ... ... ... ...**

Ichigo rubbed his eyes, trying to see better. There was a guitar laid on the desk in front of him. It was black and white with a touch of orange here and there. His and Shiro's notebook was resting on top of it, opened up to a page with blue writing and Ichigo rolled his eyes at the words even though he was smiling.

_We don't but I do._

* * *

Wooz! More! Please review! X3_  
_


	6. EVEN MORE IMPORTANT (LAST ONE I SWEAR)

_**EVEN MORE IMPORTANT:  
**_

_**I'm working on getting all my shit up on my DeviantArt and don't call me a noob because I understand that I am. DeviantArt is new to me so it'll take awhile for me to get used to, just put up with me until then. It's very time consuming and I've been busy as of late and don't have as much computer time as I used to... okay I do but unless I'm the only one home (like I am right now) I'm locked up in my room. I'm going through an "I hate the world" phase again because I'm way depressed and I hate people because they make everything worse. **_

_**My writer's block is still in effect but it's slowly letting up so what I'm going to do is read all my fics again and try to get back to work on them. Maybe I'll work with the dinosaur downstairs... it doesn't have the internet but I can work off my flash drive that way I don't have to copy everything down from paper (I fucking hate that). It'll be better than nothing, right?  
**_

_***sigh* Whatever. **_

_**I would like you guys to tell me what you would like to see updated first so I know what to work on first because it's gonna take a bit of time for me to get back into all of them. So what are you guys hungry for? PM me or something and I'll take a toll. For now, I'll just work on getting more up on my DA.  
**_

asukimonazetsumei .deviantart. com === Without the spaces of course.


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